Leon Wilkeson - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Skynyrd signed with Al Kooper's production company, Sounds of the South, a joint venture with MCA Records, in 1973, an event that should have signaled smooth sailing for the group. However, this didn't prove to be the case, as Wilkeson began to get cold feet just prior to sessions for their debut album, recorded in Atlanta. Wilkeson returned to Jacksonville and his regular job stocking ice cream at Farmbest Dairy Products. Former Strawberry Alarm Clock member Ed King subbed for Wilkeson during the recording of Skynyrd's debut, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, but just as sessions wrapped up, Wilkeson began having second thoughts about leaving the group. After discussing the matter with Van Zant, Wilkeson was welcomed back into Lynyrd Skynyrd.

With its outlaw/party-hearty image, tough southern rock, and solid touring, Skynyrd quickly became one of the top bands of the 1970s, scoring such hit albums as 1974's Second Helping, 1975's Nuthin' Fancy, 1976's Gimme Back My Bullets and One More from the Road, plus 1977's Street Survivors--and such hit singles as "Free Bird" and "Sweet Home Alabama." It was also during this classic era that Wilkeson picked up the gimmick of wearing colorful hats onstage, garnering the nickname "Mad Hatter."

Wilkeson acquired a "Fenderbird" bass from John Entwistle. The Fenderbird bass mated a custom made Gibson Thunderbird body to a Fender Precision Bass neck. Wilkeson can be seen playing this bass in a 1975 Lynyrd Skynyrd performance at the Old Grey Whistle Test.

With hit albums and sold-out tours (as well as leading a southern rock movement--as well as the emergence of such similarly styled acts as .38 Special, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, the Outlaws, etc.--it appeared that things could only get better for the Lynyrd Skynyrd. But tragedy was lurking just around the corner. The group and its entourage went down in a plane crash on October 20, 1977, outside of Gillsburg, MS, which left several members including Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines dead and the rest badly injured. Wilkeson and the other survivors bowed out of the spotlight for the remainder of the 1970s as they attempted to put their lives back together. Wilkeson did manage to lay down bass parts for a release by Jacksonville band Alias, whose debut album, "Contraband," was released 1n 1979 on Mercury. The 1980s appeared to bring great promise for most of the surviving band members, as a new group, the Rossington-Collins Band, formed, consisting of Wilkeson, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, and keyboardist Billy Powell. Wilkeson, whose left arm had been so badly broken in the plane crash that doctors were considering amputating it, never completely recovered from that injury. He had to play bass in a more upright position because he couldn't fully extend his arm.